


Welcome home, Asra

by TheKidNextDoor



Series: Learning the hard way [1]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: I won't leave it so open ended, It can be a reader insert, It's been years since I wrote a fic, It's part of a series btw, Lmao let's all suffer together because of Asra lads, Nb Asra, OC heavy, Other, Slight OOC, The real love story here is my love affair with commas, a little blurb I just thought up, if you go by she/her pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 04:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12880350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKidNextDoor/pseuds/TheKidNextDoor
Summary: Asra gets home to a warm welcome.





	Welcome home, Asra

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is okay. It's been years since I've done fic writing.
> 
> The theme of this fic is Warmth.  
> If you need a song to listen to while reading, "Hey there, Delilah" and "1,2,3,4" by the Plain White T's.
> 
> Also my characterization may be off. Please forgive me for that.
> 
> Asra is non-binary but goes by he/him pronouns in this.

Asra stopped at the door, shuffling his feet nervously. It had been so long, too long. Which was why he was here, pacing in front of her little shop in the shadow of the Kingdom of Vesuvia. Faust was perched precariously on his shoulder, looking at her human like he'd finally grown that third eye he'd always wanted.

" _In_." She whispered to him through their bond. " _Cold_." She said, trying to worm her way into one of his many scarves. Asra couldn't deny that, he too, was cold. Yet his fear kept him rooted to his spot. However, something deep within him, something even more conscious than his fear, was roiling inside of him. A magical tugging against his mind, a tugging that was steadily getting closer and closer until-

"Asra? It's so late, and so cold. Why do you wait on the doorstep when you know you are always welcome in my home?" A soft, calm voice said through the door almost mirthfully. A few clicks later he was standing in front of the person he'd _craved_ for so long- she was really there, she was _safe_.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to think up a way to surprise you with my entrance. It seems I failed, though. Have you been expecting me?" He was truly curious, for she did not have such foresight the last time he'd seen her. She just shook her head, smiling softly at her dearly missed friend.

"No, something within me knew. Also, the cards predicted your arrival, and the cards **never** lie." Her voice took on a teasing tone as she stepped aside, her long braid hitting her back with the movement. Asra stepped inside gratefully, and Faust slithered out of his scarves to perch near the fire. A strange, foreign looking cat with large blue eyes meowed disdainfully, moving away from the snake who had just invaded his warmth. Asra closed the door carefully behind himself as his petite apprentice moved over to her cozy kitchen in the backroom, a tired and chilled Asra close at her heels. All at once, the smells hit him like a tidal wave of happiness. The spices used in his apprentice's baked goods. The smell of a lit fireplace filled with freshly cut wood. The smells from whatever his apprentice had had for dinner the previous night. Most of all, however, he smelled his favorite tea, the sure sign that he was home safe and that she was really there with him. Asra felt so full of happiness he could burst, but he settled on sitting at the well-loved old table in the corner of the room.

He watched, entranced, as his apprentice moved around the kitchen, hunting for some clean mugs to pour the tea in. Everything she did was so _graceful_ ; at least to him. Perhaps that was just because of how precious she was to him. His emotions felt fuzzy when he was around her- he felt the need to protect, to preserve her happiness and well-being. He wished to give her the world, or at least anything in his power to give. He continued to stare at her even as she sat down, looking at him with the same loving look with which she looked at the world. A small hand fit over his, warm and inviting.

"I'm so happy you're home, Asra." She said, her voice filled with the undeniable fondest they shared for each other. "I feared that you would never come back- then I realized that if it was meant to be, you'd come back home. After all, you must find your own way in life, and I would let you go forever if it meant you were happy."

Asra smiled at that, feeling his gut twist into knots at the thought of never seeing her again, "I would never be able to leave forever, Odile, for my happiness lies with you." He took her hand in his own, squeezing it as tightly as he could without the fear that he would break it. She smiled up at him,

"Your happiness _may_ lie with me, Asra, but my soul is wherever you are." She grinned, giving his hand a squeeze in return. "Without you, a part of me is missing." His heart swelled at the words.

"I'm so happy you're home, Asra." She said, giving him a blinding smile.

"I'm happy too, Odile. I really am." And maybe, just this once, staying might be okay. As morning cascaded across Vesuvia, Asra reveled in the warmth that home brought him.

_'Maybe staying is okay.'_


End file.
